NVIDIA
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This article covers installing and configuring NVIDIA's proprietary graphic card driver. For information about the open-source drivers, see Nouveau. If you have a laptop with hybrid Intel/NVIDIA graphics, see NVIDIA Optimus instead.
Contents
Installation
These instructions are for those using the stock linux or linux-lts packages. For custom kernel setup, skip to the next subsection.
1. If you do not know what graphics card you have, find out by issuing:
$ lspci -k | grep -A 2 -E "(VGA|3D)"
2. Determine the necessary driver version for your card by:
- finding the code name (e.g. NV50, NVC0, etc.) on nouveau wiki's code names page
- looking up the name in NVIDIA's legacy card list: if your card is not there you can use the latest driver
- visiting NVIDIA's driver download site
3. Install the appropriate driver for your card:
- For GeForce 400 series cards and newer [NVCx and newer], install the nvidia or nvidia-lts package along with nvidia-libgl.
- For GeForce 8000/9000, ION and 100-300 series cards [NV5x, NV8x, NV9x and NVAx] from around 2006-2010, install the nvidia-340xx or nvidia-340xx-lts package along with nvidia-340xx-libgl.
- For GeForce 6000/7000 series cards [NV4x and NV6x] from around 2004-2006, install the nvidia-304xx or nvidia-304xx-lts package along with nvidia-304xx-libgl.
- For even older cards, have a look at #Unsupported drivers.
- For the very latest GPU models, it may be required to install the nvidia-betaAUR package, since the stable drivers may not support the newly introduced features.
4. If you are on 64-bit and also need 32-bit OpenGL support, you must also install the equivalent lib32 package from the multilib repository (e.g. lib32-nvidia-libgl, lib32-nvidia-340xx-libgl or lib32-nvidia-304xx-libgl).
5. Reboot. The nvidia package contains a file which blacklists the nouveau module, so rebooting is necessary.
Once the driver has been installed, continue to #Configuring.
Unsupported drivers
If you have a GeForce 5 FX series card or older, Nvidia no longer supports drivers for your card. This means that these drivers do not support the current Xorg version. It thus might be easier if you use the nouveau driver, which supports the old cards with the current Xorg.
However, Nvidia's legacy drivers are still available and might provide better 3D performance/stability if you are willing to downgrade Xorg:
- For GeForce 5 FX series cards [NV30-NV36], install the nvidia-173xx-dkmsAUR package. Last supported Xorg version is 1.15.
- For GeForce 2/3/4 MX/Ti series cards [NV11, NV17-NV28], install the nvidia-96xx-dkmsAUR package. Last supported Xorg version is 1.12.
Alternate install: custom kernel
Follow the How to use ABS instructions to create a build directory for the nvidia
package. Then, before building with makepkg, you must edit nvidia.install
and PKGBUILD
so that they contain the right kernel version variables.
While running the custom kernel, get the appropriate kernel and local version names:
$ uname -r
- In nvidia.install, replace the
EXTRAMODULES='extramodules-3.4-ARCH'
variable with the custom kernel version, such asEXTRAMODULES='extramodules-3.4.4'
orEXTRAMODULES='extramodules-3.4.4-custom'
depending on what the kernel's version is and the local version's text/numbers. Do this for all instances of the version number within this file. - In PKGBUILD, change the
_extramodules=extramodules-3.4-ARCH
variable to match the appropriate version, as above. - If there are multiple kernels installed in parallel (such as a custom kernel alongside the default -ARCH kernel), change the
pkgname=nvidia
variable in the PKGBUILD to a unique identifier, such as nvidia-344 or nvidia-custom. This will allow both kernels to use the nvidia module, since the custom nvidia module has a different package name and will not overwrite the original. You will also need to comment the line inpackage()
that blacklists the nouveau module in/usr/lib/modprobe.d/nvidia.conf
(no need to do it again).
Then build and install the package as usual.
Automatic re-compilation of the NVIDIA module with kernel update
This is possible with DKMS. Install the nvidia-dkms package (or a specific branch such as nvidia-340xx-dkms) and make sure that the dkms.service
systemd unit is enabled.
See Dynamic Kernel Module Support#Usage for more information on how to use DKMS.
Pure Video HD (VDPAU/VAAPI)
At least a video card with second generation PureVideo HD is required to use VDPAU and VA-API.
Hardware accelerated video decoding with XvMC
Accelerated decoding of MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 videos via XvMC are supported on GeForce4, GeForce 5 FX, GeForce 6 and GeForce 7 series cards. See XvMC for detail.
Configuration
It is possible that after installing the driver it may not be needed to create an Xorg server configuration file. You can run a test to see if the Xorg server will function correctly without a configuration file. However, it may be required to create a configuration file (prefer /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/20-nvidia.conf
over /etc/X11/xorg.conf
) in order to adjust various settings. This configuration can be generated by the NVIDIA Xorg configuration tool, or it can be created manually. If created manually, it can be a minimal configuration (in the sense that it will only pass the basic options to the Xorg server), or it can include a number of settings that can bypass Xorg's auto-discovered or pre-configured options.
Minimal configuration
A basic configuration block in 20-nvidia.conf
(or deprecated in xorg.conf
) would look like this:
/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/20-nvidia.conf
Section "Device" Identifier "Nvidia Card" Driver "nvidia" VendorName "NVIDIA Corporation" Option "NoLogo" "true" #Option "UseEDID" "false" #Option "ConnectedMonitor" "DFP" # ... EndSection
Automatic configuration
The NVIDIA package includes an automatic configuration tool to create an Xorg server configuration file (xorg.conf
) and can be run by:
# nvidia-xconfig
This command will auto-detect and create (or edit, if already present) the /etc/X11/xorg.conf
configuration according to present hardware.
If there are instances of DRI, ensure they are commented out:
# Load "dri"
Double check your /etc/X11/xorg.conf
to make sure your default depth, horizontal sync, vertical refresh, and resolutions are acceptable.
NVIDIA Settings
The nvidia-settings tool lets you configure many options using a GUI. Run nvidia-settings
as root, configure as you wish, and then save the configuration to /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/
as usual.
Alternatively, you can run the GUI as a normal user and save the settings to ~/.nvidia-settings-rc
. Then you can load the settings using $ nvidia-settings --load-config-only
(for example in your xinitrc).
Multiple monitors
- See Multihead for more general information
Using NVIDIA Settings
The nvidia-settings tool can configure multiple monitors.
ConnectedMonitor
If the driver does not properly detect a second monitor, you can force it to do so with ConnectedMonitor.
/etc/X11/xorg.conf
Section "Monitor" Identifier "Monitor1" VendorName "Panasonic" ModelName "Panasonic MICRON 2100Ex" HorizSync 30.0 - 121.0 # this monitor has incorrect EDID, hence Option "UseEDIDFreqs" "false" VertRefresh 50.0 - 160.0 Option "DPMS" EndSection Section "Monitor" Identifier "Monitor2" VendorName "Gateway" ModelName "GatewayVX1120" HorizSync 30.0 - 121.0 VertRefresh 50.0 - 160.0 Option "DPMS" EndSection Section "Device" Identifier "Device1" Driver "nvidia" Option "NoLogo" Option "UseEDIDFreqs" "false" Option "ConnectedMonitor" "CRT,CRT" VendorName "NVIDIA Corporation" BoardName "GeForce 6200 LE" BusID "PCI:3:0:0" Screen 0 EndSection Section "Device" Identifier "Device2" Driver "nvidia" Option "NoLogo" Option "UseEDIDFreqs" "false" Option "ConnectedMonitor" "CRT,CRT" VendorName "NVIDIA Corporation" BoardName "GeForce 6200 LE" BusID "PCI:3:0:0" Screen 1 EndSection
The duplicated device with Screen
is how you get X to use two monitors on one card without TwinView
. Note that nvidia-settings
will strip out any ConnectedMonitor
options you have added.
TwinView
You want only one big screen instead of two. Set the TwinView
argument to 1
. This option should be used if you desire compositing. TwinView only works on a per card basis, when all participating monitors are connected to the same card.
Option "TwinView" "1"
Example configuration:
/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/10-monitor.conf
Section "ServerLayout" Identifier "TwinLayout" Screen 0 "metaScreen" 0 0 EndSection Section "Monitor" Identifier "Monitor0" Option "Enable" "true" EndSection Section "Monitor" Identifier "Monitor1" Option "Enable" "true" EndSection Section "Device" Identifier "Card0" Driver "nvidia" VendorName "NVIDIA Corporation" #refer to the link below for more information on each of the following options. Option "HorizSync" "DFP-0: 28-33; DFP-1 28-33" Option "VertRefresh" "DFP-0: 43-73; DFP-1 43-73" Option "MetaModes" "1920x1080, 1920x1080" Option "ConnectedMonitor" "DFP-0, DFP-1" Option "MetaModeOrientation" "DFP-1 LeftOf DFP-0" EndSection Section "Screen" Identifier "metaScreen" Device "Card0" Monitor "Monitor0" DefaultDepth 24 Option "TwinView" "True" SubSection "Display" Modes "1920x1080" EndSubSection EndSection
If you have multiple cards that are SLI capable, it is possible to run more than one monitor attached to separate cards (for example: two cards in SLI with one monitor attached to each). The "MetaModes" option in conjunction with SLI Mosaic mode enables this. Below is a configuration which works for the aforementioned example and runs GNOME flawlessly.
/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/10-monitor.conf
Section "Device" Identifier "Card A" Driver "nvidia" BusID "PCI:1:00:0" EndSection Section "Device" Identifier "Card B" Driver "nvidia" BusID "PCI:2:00:0" EndSection Section "Monitor" Identifier "Right Monitor" EndSection Section "Monitor" Identifier "Left Monitor" EndSection Section "Screen" Identifier "Right Screen" Device "Card A" Monitor "Right Monitor" DefaultDepth 24 Option "SLI" "Mosaic" Option "Stereo" "0" Option "BaseMosaic" "True" Option "MetaModes" "GPU-0.DFP-0: 1920x1200+4480+0, GPU-1.DFP-0:1920x1200+0+0" SubSection "Display" Depth 24 EndSubSection EndSection Section "Screen" Identifier "Left Screen" Device "Card B" Monitor "Left Monitor" DefaultDepth 24 Option "SLI" "Mosaic" Option "Stereo" "0" Option "BaseMosaic" "True" Option "MetaModes" "GPU-0.DFP-0: 1920x1200+4480+0, GPU-1.DFP-0:1920x1200+0+0" SubSection "Display" Depth 24 EndSubSection EndSection Section "ServerLayout" Identifier "Default" Screen 0 "Right Screen" 0 0 Option "Xinerama" "0" EndSection
Manual CLI configuration with xrandr
If the latest solutions do not work for you, you can use your window manager's autostart implementation with xorg-xrandr.
Some xrandr
examples could be:
xrandr --output DVI-I-0 --auto --primary --left-of DVI-I-1
or:
xrandr --output DVI-I-1 --pos 1440x0 --mode 1440x900 --rate 75.0
When:
-
--output
is used to indicate the "monitor" to which the options are set. -
DVI-I-1
is the name of the second monitor. -
--pos
is the position of the second monitor relative to the first. -
--mode
is the resolution of the second monitor. -
--rate
is the refresh rate (in Hz).
Vertical sync using TwinView
If you are using TwinView and vertical sync (the "Sync to VBlank" option in nvidia-settings), you will notice that only one screen is being properly synced, unless you have two identical monitors. Although nvidia-settings does offer an option to change which screen is being synced (the "Sync to this display device" option), this does not always work. A solution is to add the following environment variables at startup, for example append in /etc/profile
:
export __GL_SYNC_TO_VBLANK=1 export __GL_SYNC_DISPLAY_DEVICE=DFP-0 export __VDPAU_NVIDIA_SYNC_DISPLAY_DEVICE=DFP-0
You can change DFP-0
with your preferred screen (DFP-0
is the DVI port and CRT-0
is the VGA port). You can find the identifier for your display from nvidia-settings in the "X Server XVideoSettings" section.
Gaming using TwinView
In case you want to play fullscreen games when using TwinView, you will notice that games recognize the two screens as being one big screen. While this is technically correct (the virtual X screen really is the size of your screens combined), you probably do not want to play on both screens at the same time.
To correct this behavior for SDL, try:
export SDL_VIDEO_FULLSCREEN_HEAD=1
For OpenGL, add the appropriate Metamodes to your xorg.conf in section Device
and restart X:
Option "Metamodes" "1680x1050,1680x1050; 1280x1024,1280x1024; 1680x1050,NULL; 1280x1024,NULL;"
Another method that may either work alone or in conjunction with those mentioned above is starting games in a separate X server.
Mosaic mode
Mosaic mode is the only way to use more than 2 monitors across multiple graphics cards with compositing. Your window manager may or may not recognize the distinction between each monitor.
Base Mosaic
Base Mosaic mode works on any set of Geforce 8000 series or higher GPUs. It cannot be enabled from within the nvidia-setting GUI. You must either use the nvidia-xconfig
command line program or edit xorg.conf
by hand. Metamodes must be specified. The following is an example for four DFPs in a 2x2 configuration, each running at 1920x1024, with two DFPs connected to two cards:
$ nvidia-xconfig --base-mosaic --metamodes="GPU-0.DFP-0: 1920x1024+0+0, GPU-0.DFP-1: 1920x1024+1920+0, GPU-1.DFP-0: 1920x1024+0+1024, GPU-1.DFP-1: 1920x1024+1920+1024"
SLI Mosaic
If you have an SLI configuration and each GPU is a Quadro FX 5800, Quadro Fermi or newer then you can use SLI Mosaic mode. It can be enabled from within the nvidia-settings GUI or from the command line with:
$ nvidia-xconfig --sli=Mosaic --metamodes="GPU-0.DFP-0: 1920x1024+0+0, GPU-0.DFP-1: 1920x1024+1920+0, GPU-1.DFP-0: 1920x1024+0+1024, GPU-1.DFP-1: 1920x1024+1920+1024"
Driver persistence
Since version 319, Nvidia has changed the way driver persistence works, it now has a daemon that is to be run at boot. See the Driver Persistence section of the Nvidia documentation for more details.
To start the persistence daemon at boot, enable the nvidia-persistenced.service
. For manual usage see the upstream documentation.